The Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the President of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Mr. Viktor Khristenko, on the margins of the sixth Astana Economic Forum.

In his address to the opening ceremony, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, noted that policymakers were facing a dual challenge at this point in time: restoring the world economy to sustained growth, and preventing a recurrence of the financial crisis.

At the sixth Astana Economic Forum and first World Anti-Crisis Conference, held on 23-24 May 2013 in Astana, Kazakhstan, UNCTAD and the Government of Kazakhstan, through the Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists, co-organized a lunch event titled Fifty Years of Development: What Have We Learned.

"Without more democracy in the global institutions, it is unlikely that a new policy framework can be crafted that addresses the needs of the world's people", said Mr. Vijay Prashad, Professor of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, United States.